


Girls und Warships: Legend of a Pirate

by ViktorChild (raven013)



Category: Girls und Panzer
Genre: Action/Adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27368200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven013/pseuds/ViktorChild
Summary: Despite winning the National Senshado Championship, Ooarai's school ship was still scheduled for decommissioning. In a desperate move, Anzu Kadotani sent word to other schools for help as well as ordering a certain self-proclaimed Pirate to delay the ship from reaching a ship-breaking yard in the Philippines by any means necessary.
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Girls und Warships: Legend of a Pirate**

****

**Prologue**

* * *

**Location:** Student Council Office

**Time:** Aug 25. 1805 HRS - The evening after the Celebratory Exhibition Match

* * *

Never before had Anzu Kadotani felt the urge to commit murder on someone as she does right now.

Merely seeing the man standing in front of her made her want to forgo all notions of civility and just lunge at him and tear off his neck with her bare teeth. Of course, actually doing such a barbaric act was a surefire way to earn herself the title of the youngest person to be sent to death row in Japan. However, right now, at this moment, she firmly believed it would be the most satisfying thing she would ever do in her entire life.

Forcing rationality into her thoughts, the Student Council President closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath to bring down her humors. If she snapped and gave in to her rage right now, then it would spell doom to everything she’d done for the past year.

When she opened her eyes, the fire burning within her was gone. She no longer felt her blood boiling with anger, and the shaking on her hands had stopped. Now, she felt nothing but ice coursing through her veins, with cold, logical cogs beginning to spin inside her calculating mind.

In front of her, the man stood silently, nonchalantly staring at the cool summer evening behind the Student Council office’s glass wall. How he got inside their office, she would never know, nor does she care. He hadn’t made known his intentions or uttered any sound, but there was no doubt as to why he was here.

“We already made a deal.” She started, her voice cool and monotonous and betraying none of the emotions she felt only a moment ago.

“We made mistakes, you and I,” the man replied, not even turning to face her. “Nothing to be ashamed of, I assure you. After all, we are simply humans. We all make mistakes.”

“You gave us your word.” She pressed. “You said if we win the Senshado tournament, then you would spare our school from being decommissioned.”

“I did, and that was my mistake.” The man placed a hand on the glass wall. “Your mistake was not to put it in writing.”

Without realizing it, Anzu’s hands balled into tight fists.

“Your word is your honor,” she reminded him.

“And if it only was about honor, I wouldn’t be here at all.” He countered. “Such a wide-ranging deal simply could not be done in mere words. It must be put into… How do I phrase this… In a more permanent circumstance.”

“Then why agree to a deal with us in the first place?”

The man finally turned to face her, revealing his usual black business suit, combed hair, and soft-framed glasses. In an everyday setting, he looked like a typical salary-man strolling in the busy streets of Tokyo. He looked like the full embodiment of bureaucracy and everything ill about it.

“Because you were not supposed to win.” He revealed.

And there it was, straight from the devil’s mouth.

Anzu summoned all her willpower again to maintain her cold, calculating demeanor, lest she would once again feel the need to tear this bureaucrat a new one. However, the man was right. It was a mistake on her part not to put their agreement in writing. She should have recognized this flaw back when this man revealed to her of their school’s closure. She was too eager to jump into saving their school that she forgot the actual legality of their agreement. It was too late for blame now.

Now, she had to reap the consequences of her mistake.

“There are many high-profile individuals both in the Seshado Federation and the Ministry of Education who are not all too pleased that an unknown school won such a prestigious tournament.” He continued. “They say your win is a farce, an insult to the tenets of Senshado.”

“We won fair and square.” She countered. “We won against those elite Senshado schools and soundly beat them.”

The man shrugged.

“Be that as it may,” he paused to adjust his glasses. “The powers that be are not happy with the results. They demand retribution for such an inelegant win.”

“This would be a scandal of the highest degree,” Anzu warned, still maintaining an almost emotionless facade. “What would the public say once they realize the championing school of the Senshado tournament is to be closed down? Do you think the reputation of the Federation or that of MEXT would survive undamaged?”

“Ah,” the man held up his hand to clarify. “That is where you are wrong.”

Anzu didn’t respond. She stood silent against this bureaucratic spawn with every cell in her body remaining defiant.

“The higher-ups demand retribution, but they also acknowledge this school’s Senshado club as having raw potential.” The man again adjusted his glasses as a way to prove a point. “The higher-ups want to disband the school, but spare the members of your Senshado club.”

Anzu’s brows furrowed with confusion. “I… I don’t understand.”

The man’s lips formed into a wide grin before turning his back at her to stare once more at the cool summer evening outside.

“I hear that in your Senshado club there are individuals who are talented mechanics.” The man revealed. “I surmised their talents could be better suited for a more promising school like Bellwall Academy. I also heard they have a promising automobile club.”

Anzu slowly breathed in deeply to douse out the rage that was once again starting to swell up inside her chest. She needed to maintain her calm. She needed to detach herself from her emotions.

“I also heard you have a team composed solely of avid history buffs.” The man continued. “I am a fan of history myself, and I believe such budding young historians would be better off if their thirst for knowledge is quenched inside more traditional schools such as BC Freedom Academy or Anzio.”

The student council president didn’t respond.

“Or how about the first-year members of your club?” The man placed his hands on his back. “They are young and full of untapped potential. I heard that Pravda has reinstated a program where they invite actual Russian tankers from the Russian military to train their fresh recruits.”

Now Anzu had to summon all her reserved willpower just to maintain her cool. Still, she didn’t respond.

“And what about your ace commander? The rising star of Ooarai?” The man turned to stare directly into her eyes. “A Nishizumi breaking away from the Nishizumi style is already a scandal in itself. Many prominent Kuromorimine alumni are outraged at the result. This cannot go on, and they demand the errant Nishizumi sister be returned to Kurmoromine at once, or she be expe-.”

“Stop it,” Anzu growled through gritted teeth. Without realizing it, her vision had started to blur. “Enough. Please…”

The man didn’t continue. For what seemed like an eternity, both remained silent. Anzu curled her hands as tight as she could to steady herself. She blinked a couple of times before resuming her glare at him.

Finally, the man grabbed his briefcase and started to walk towards her.

“The ship is already impounded. Students that are not from the Naval Studies Department are allowed to grab their belongings inside the ship until midnight. By dawn, the ship will sail.” He said as he approached her. “Housings for stranded students have already been arranged. You need not worry about the transfers. All have been taken care of.”

When they were already side by side, the man stopped. Both didn’t bother to look at each other.

“All members of this school’s Senshado club will be divided by each of the prominent elite Senshado schools.” The man mentioned as a matter of fact. “Worry not. They will all be given priority treatment in their registration. I hear your club is fairly acquainted with your opponents, so I’m sure the transfers would proceed smoothly.”

The man didn’t wait for a reply as he started to walk toward the door.

Anzu could hear her heart beating loudly in her ears. She had a hundred questions she wanted to ask this sly creature of bureaucracy, but she knew they would never get a response.

However, there was only one thing she needed him to answer.

“What… What will happen to the ship?” She asked just as she heard the large mahogany doors of the Student Council office swung open. “Where will you take it?”

Silence.

Anzu didn’t move nor even turned to look at the man. She stood her ground and waited for a reply.

After what seemed like a minute or two, the man responded.

“The ship is scheduled to be scrapped and broken.” The man revealed. “Delegates from a Philippine school will take charge of the school carrier by midnight, and by dawn, it will sail towards a ship-breaking yard somewhere in the Philippines. Of course, the Naval Studies students will remain to crew the ship until they reach their destination. Any other questions?”

Anzu shook her head, though she knew he too was not looking at her. “No. That was all.”

“Hmm,” he grunted. Then his voice seemed to soften as he gave her one last piece of advice. “You fought hard, President Kadotani. You may not believe this, but I genuinely admire your commitment to saving this school. It’s over now. You can finally rest. I shall put a good word in your recommendation regarding your exemplary work. Worry not, you will have no problem entering any university of your choice. This time, you have my word.”

She heard the door slammed shut, and immediately her legs gave way.

All of her strength had evaporated. She couldn’t move or even get up. She felt weak and completely vulnerable. Gone was her mask of cold indifference, replaced instead with a torn veil stained with shame and defeat.

Now all alone inside the Student Council office, she finally gave in to her emotions, bursting on the floor crying.

She closed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth but still, the tears and the sobs wouldn’t stop. She felt her heart beating furiously with unchanneled rage.

She was angry. She was angry with that glasses-wearing bastard, with the school for being old and underachieving, with the old farts in the Federation and in MEXT for being such sore losers, she was angry with everyone.

But most of all, she was angry with herself.

The thought of being a failure was unbearable. She screamed at the ceiling and threw out rims of documents into the air. What was the purpose of all of this? What was the point of even trying to change an unchangeable outcome?

She had done everything in her power to save their school, and still, it all meant nothing.

For a minute and two, she allowed herself to cry. She allowed herself to be vulnerable and to give in to raw and illogical emotions. Gone was her firm and assured persona that others saw in her. Instead, what sat inside this office of power was a short, normal girl who foolishly fought the system and lost.

She allowed herself to cry all the way to the third minute and into the fourth. However, at the stroke of the fifth minute, she finally forced herself to stand up.

Her eyes were still wet, her nose was still stuffy, and her chest was still aching. However, the self-loathing within her had finally stopped.

Once more, with tears still falling down her closed eyes, she opened her mouth and inhaled a deep breath to calm herself. The next minute she did nothing but continue to take in deep breaths until she had successfully balanced her humors.

Slowly, she opened her eyes. The cold, logical, and calculating Anzu Kadotani was back.

She then strode towards the Student Council office’s glass wall to survey the school grounds below. It was early evening, and every building had already gone dark except for the lamp posts in the streets.

“This isn’t over,” she muttered to herself. “This isn’t yet the finale.”

Still gazing out of the glass wall, she took out her phone from her pocket and dialed in a number given to her by the head of Ooarai’s most secretive club.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

“Miss President?” a low voice of a girl answered on the other side.

“A man just exited out from my office,” Anzu began, her voice now masked from any sign of emotions. “He is carrying a briefcase with him that contains valuable documents that I need.”

The other side of the phone remained silent.

“Splinter, I need you and your fellow ninjas to bring me that briefcase at all cost.”

A wave of static could be heard from the other side before Anzu heard a reply.

“Acknowledged, Miss President.”

The call ended.

“The school can still be saved,” she muttered to herself again.

Her mind had finally changed gear from self-pity to something more productive. Even now, in her subconscious, her mind raced to pick up minute details of her conversations with that man that she could use against him in the future.

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose to ease the pain of a looming headache.

She needed to come up with another plan to save the school from getting scrapped. The last deal with that man was only made verbally, which meant this time she needed to forge a new written deal with prominent officials as witnesses.

This would mean she needed to once again pull the strings from behind the curtain and gather allies within both the Senshado Federation and MEXT. For starters, the first person she needed to convince was their instructor, Ami Chono.

Now their instructor might appear like a carefree individual, but Anzu knew it was only a farce to mask her cunning self. The Student Council President had no doubt their instructor would prove to be an indispensable ally.

Convincing Ami Chono to be on her side was just one step of her ultimate plan. She still needed to move the heavens and the earth before she could save their school.

In fact, the very first step she needed to make was to move the sea.

Again she dialed another number in her phone that belonged to an individual who was heavily indebted to her PR Manager, Momo Kawashima.

Normally, collecting debts wasn’t something she was fond of doing, even though this individual once insisted they call her if they needed to do things that other people would call shady.

Still, now was not the time to adhere to proper decorum when their opponent would go so far as to scrap a ship just to satisfy their hurt pride.

The plan forming in her head had two parts. The first part she could handle. Planning for another match, this time on a written deal, was something she could do. The second part, however, deals with the ship never reaching its destination for scrapping.

For that, she needed a specialist who knows more about ships and sailing than her.

Anzu finally heard the other side picking up her call.

“I told you to never call me again,” the voice on the other side warned almost sounding threatening. “You are not Momo-sama. I should not be doing favors for you.”

For the first time this evening, Anzu Kadotani smiled.

“Hey there, Captain Ogin, long time no chat.”


	2. Feasting with Sharks

****

* * *

**Location:** Danzoko Bar

**Time: The day after Ooarai’s victory over BC Freedom**

* * *

Azusa Sawa was a good girl.

She does her homework on time, goes to school early, and she was always the class rep of her class every time. In fact, Sodoko frequently praises her as the embodiment of a morally upright student amidst a school full of morally ambiguous individuals. She didn't display any eccentricities in her wardrobe, which pleased the Morals Committee's eyes. She also wore her school uniform as prescribed. She even trimmed her short, dark-brown hair as was mandated.

In addition to her exemplary standing, she was known to be the more serious and level-headed of her fellow first years. As such, it was only natural that her teammates would vote for her as the tank commander of the Rabbit team. There were even rumors that she could be the next overall commander once Nishizumi Miho graduated.

Azusa Sawa was indeed a good girl, and this was the reason why she stuck out like a sore thumb inside this dimly-lit bar located on the lowest deck of the Ooarai school ship.

If given the option, she would have declined to come into this lawless part of the ship. However, her goody-two-shoes personality also made her an easy target for peer pressure. As such, she had no choice but to accept the invitation of their senpai host to meet them here in the bowels of the ship.

As a force of habit, she began to fidget with her fingers to calm herself whenever she was uncomfortable.

The tavern she was in seemed more fitting as a hangout place for ruffians and delinquents than a place an honor student would frequent.

She gave a quick glance towards the rest of her teammates, who all sat quietly beside her with varying degrees of anxiousness. Yuuki Utsugi, the primary loader, radio operator, and navigator of the M3 Lee, sat next to her left. The all-rounder member of the Rabbit Team had a worried expression on her face. Still, it seemed more due to anticipation rather than fear.

To Yuuki's left sat Ayumi Yamagou, the primary gunner of the M3 Lee. She was the tallest in the Rabbit Team, which meant she sometimes got mistaken as the most mature one of the group. She even got noted as a younger version of Hana Isuzu, the Anglerfish Team's famed gunner, with both being tall and sporting long black hair. In reality, she was as carefree as the rest of her first-year friends. However, this time, she seemed uneasy as if she carried the unfounded burden as the team's protector simply because of her height.

Azusa could relate to her unease as she too felt a sense of responsibility toward her team as their leader and commander. Then again, their primary host did assure her that no harm would come before her group here in the lower part of the school ship despite the number of delinquents hanging around.

Their primary host swore by her honor that they'd be safe, but Azusa still found it hard to trust the word of a self-proclaimed pirate completely.

Across the dinner table from Ayumi sat Aya Oono, the secondary gunner of the M3 Lee. She was the only one in the team to wear glasses as well as sporting a more liberal hairstyle with her long caramel-brown hair tied into twin tails to complete her bubbly personality. She seemed unperturbed by the situation. In fact, she even appeared eager at being inside an unfamiliar place.

Beside the bespectacled gunner sat Karina Sakaguchi, the driver of the M3 Lee. She sported short, light-brown hair and was the shortest of the group, which made her appear more childish than her age would suggest. She also had the most carefree attitude in their team. There was no hint of fear whatsoever in her bearing, only a wellspring of curiosity for the new. In fact, she was the only one utterly enamored by the singing of the tavern's sole Karaoke singer. Azusa swore the singer was butchering the English song with her heavy Japanese accent.

Azusa made a mental note to regularly check on Karina from wandering off to uncharted places, especially when they return to the upper decks of the ship.

The last member of their group, sitting next to her best friend Karina, was Saki Maruyama, the silent tertiary gunner of the M3 Lee. Like her best friend, Saki was short with short grayish-brown hair. But unlike the energetic Karina, she was more reserved and introverted. She preferred to remain silent and content with the world inside her mind as she was doing right now, staring at some decorations hanging on the wall.

The six of them compose Rabbit Team, the youngest team of Ooarai’s Senshado club. As Azusa noted, she would have preferred to decline to come into this shady bar, but courtesy demands she and her team accept.

After all, it was not wise to refuse an invitation of a pirate.

The doors to the kitchen opened, and a physically built girl with long black hair in sailor uniform exited, holding a tray stacked with food.

“Foods ready!” the well-muscled girl announced.

“Ah,” Azusa stood up and offered her help in carrying the tray. “Murakami-senpai, let me help you with that.”

Murakami, the starboard loader and gunner for Shark Team's Mark IV tank, shook her head and gave the honor student a wide smile. "With those arms of yours? Thanks, but I can handle this. Here you go!"

The burly sailor placed the food tray at the center of their table, revealing stacks of varied types of cooked sausages.

There were smoked Kielbasa, Frankfurters, well-cooked Hungarian sausages, sliced Nurnbergers, small chunks of chorizos all strung together, dozens of Bologna and one humongous unsliced Mortadella at the center of the tray.

Azusa gulped at the extravagant feast before her. She quickly caught herself from salivating, though she couldn't say the same for Karina. The latter had her whole mouth wide open with an accompanying drool.

“This looks so delicious!” Aya exclaimed before taking pictures of their bounty with her phone.

"I'm sure to tell my boyfriend about this!" Yuuki said, excitedly with any notion of anxiousness on her face, completely vanished.

“Uh, I thought you broke up with your boyfriend?” Ayumi asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot!” The all-rounder member of the Rabbit Team gave her a sheepish smile. “Tee-hee!”

“Please help yourselves,” called out a voice from the kitchen door.

Azusa turned her attention toward the voice and saw a petite short-haired blonde girl wearing a barmaid attire on top of her sailor uniform. Cutlass, the port gunner and loader of the Mark IV tank, exited out of the kitchen carrying another tray filled with another batch of food.

Again, Azusa stood up to signal her intent to help the barmaid carry the heavy-looking tray, but she got ignored.

Cutlass hauled the tray on top of the table with complete ease, the same as the burly Murakami did with the sausages.

The second batch of food was an assortment of bread from a dozen croissants, baguettes, slices of pita, to a complete loaf of wheat bread. In addition, all of them were still fresh from the oven.

“Um… I uh...” Azusa tried to say something but couldn’t find the words to convey her surprise and gratefulness for such a bountiful feast.

“Say nothing about it,” Murakami replied with a wide grin. “This party is all for your team as our sincere apology for always picking on you guys.”

“Uh well,” the leader of the Rabbit team let out a forced smile. “Please don’t be troubled by it. We are, as you know, used to being teased by everyone.”

Azusa had to admit that her group was easy prey in becoming the butt of all jokes. Even with their fellow first-years, the Rabbit team was known for being an eccentric bunch. It was probably because they were composed of such varying degrees of personality, from her usually serious demeanor to Karina's unrestrained carefree attitude.

"Well, teasing is fine," Murakami agreed. Then for a fraction of a second, a flash of anger crossed her face before reverting back to her usual grin. "But if anyone starts bullying any of you, you just come to us, we'll take care of it, no questions ask."

"Eh, heh, I'll uh, keep that in mind." Azusa chuckled nervously.

Just then, the entrance to the bar opened, and another sailor girl with brunette curly hair and an expression that conveyed she was under the influence of some substance.

“Oh? The guests are here!” Rum, the primary driver of Shark Team, exclaimed as she entered the pub carrying a plastic bag filled with bottles of refreshments.

This time, Azusa decided not to stand up and offer help to the curly brunette who proceeded to squeeze herself between Yuuki and Ayumi's seats.

“Here, I brought you some juice!”

Azusa’s eyes narrowed. Before any of her teammates could grab the contents of the plastic bag, she reached her hand out to take out a bottle.

“Wait, hold up...” The leader of Rabbit Team scowled at the drink she was holding. “This… This is an alcoholic drink!”

Rum’s lips widened into a mischievous grin. “Don’t be silly, it’s just jui-”

“It contains alcohol,” Azusa pointed at a percentage etched on the back of the bottle. “And isn’t this illega-”

She felt an arm on her left shoulder, slowly bringing her down to sit back on her seat.

Murakami had just decided to take the seat beside her with her arm wrapped around her shoulders.

“Relax, Rabbit leader,” assured the burly sailor. “I have yet to see someone get drunk while drinking this alco-err I mean juice.”

Azusa gritted her teeth. All her middle-school and high-school life, she had always walked the good, clean path. Drinking while still underage was something she'd never do.

The honor-student shook her head. “I’m sorry, Murakami-senpai, but as the leader of Rabbit Team, I can’t allow my team to-”

“Think of it as training,” Cutlass suggested before the Rabbit Leader could finish her sentence.

Azusa darted her gaze towards the barmaid, who stared back at her with sharp golden eyes.

“Training?”

“When you graduate and enter college, there will be many instances when you are forced to partake in social gatherings that involve large consumption of alcohol.” Cutlass explained this as a matter of fact. “That is an inevitable event of life. That is why it is better to train your alcohol resistance now rather than later.”

"And as I've said," the curly brunette added. "These 'juices' contain super low alcohol content if you could even count it as such."

For a few seconds, Azusa didn’t respond. Though she didn’t want to admit it, she did find some truth in what her sailor Senpais were saying. There would indeed be a time when she needed to venture out of her sheltered life. Even so, she still couldn’t help but feel she was being pressured to tread on a path she didn’t want.

"I've been the bartender of this bar for quite some time now, and I assure you," Cutlass pointed on her barmaid's apron for emphasis. "There has not been one instance where someone got wasted inside this establishment."

Azusa's brows creased with uncertainty. "I don't know Cutlass-senpai... It's just…"

"It's alright, Azusa-chan," interjected Aya. "I've seen my Onii-chan drink this juice many times, and he's never got himself drunk."

“I’ve heard from my boyfriend this drink is not even considered alcoholic at all.” agreed Yuuki.

Ayumi and Karina nodded in concurrence while Saki’s attention was somewhere else entirely.

Finally, Azusa gave each of her team a sharp look before letting out a sigh. "Alright, fine, but please drink moderately and don't ever tell Sodoko about this!"

"Eh, who cares about that Kappa," Rum waved a dismissive hand as she opened a juice bottle drink. "She's far away from here, so just relax, little rabbits and have fun."

"Well, the food here does look delicious," the rabbit leader concurred, switching the topic. "And I thank you senpais for inviting us to this sausage party. We-"

She was again interrupted from finishing her sentence when Rum spurted out her drink when she started cackling with laughter. Aya, too, was about to laugh but immediately covered her mouth with her hand, which muffled the sound to a snicker. Ayumi started looking down to hide her face while Yuuki barely managed to control her chuckle. Karina seemed utterly oblivious, while Saki didn't even seem to notice the laughter at all.

“Eh? What did I say?” Azusa asked, genuinely oblivious.

“Um, Azusa-chan,” Azusa felt Yuuki tugging on her sleeve. She turned to face her and saw she was blushing. Then, the all-rounder member of their team whispered something into her ear.

A second later, Azusa went utterly red with embarrassment.

“Hmm?” Karina tilted her head quizzically. “What’s so funny about a sausage party?”

This only drove the curly brunette further into hysterics while the diligent rabbit leader desperately wished to turn invisible.

“I’ll tell you what it means when we get back to our dorms, Karina-chan,” Yuuki offered, her expression barely holding the urge to snicker.

Murakami slammed her hand on the table while letting out a hearty laugh. “I don’t know either what’s so funny about 'sausage party', but be that as it may, I propose a toast to everyone here inside and… Hey Flint! Stop your damned singing and come over here! We’re about to eat!”

A sharp static noise squealed from the tavern's speakers, which drowned out Rum's laughter.

Azusa turned her attention toward the stage where a tall, slender girl with silver hair wearing a sailor uniform with long skirts stood.

"Yeah, no. I still have a couple more songs in the queue." Flint, the secondary driver of the Mark IV, declined. "Just start eating without me."

"No." Murakami glared at the silver-haired singer, which made her stiff as a statue. "Get in here. Now."

Flint opened her mouth to protest but then thought better of it.

She gave the burly sailor a grudging scowl before walking toward the dinner table to sit beside the short-haired driver of the M3 Lee, who apparently was staring at her with wonder.

“You were so cool, Flint-senpai!” Karina congratulated her with the same enthusiasm as an avid fan wanting an autograph. “How were you able to sing so perfectly?”

In an instant, the silver-haired singer's scowl turned into the widest grin possible for her slender face. Suddenly, she straightened her posture, and she felt her chest swell with pride.

"Well, I'm not going to brag," she bragged. "But the song just comes naturally to me as a sailor of the seas."

"Oh, brother," Murakami rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "You're always off-key, and your English pronunciation is butchering the 'Drunken Sailor' song!"

"Hey, bite me, you stupid gorilla," Flint shot-back as she pointed her microphone at her well-muscled teammate like a makeshift mace.

“Hai, hai, enough of that,” Cutlass clapped her hands before giving the two a sharp glare. “Murakami, I believe you were about to propose a toast?”

"Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah," Murakami stood up and raised her bottle of 'juice' for everyone to see. "Eh, as I was saying… We offer this feast as an apology for the times we made fun of you, little rabbits."

She paused as she gave a quick glance to all individuals seated.

"We also offer this feast as a sign of friendship, and we look forward to training with you in the art of landship war after our glorious victory against BC Freedom."

“Landship war?” Karina asked quizzically.

“She meant Senshado,” Ayumi clarified across the table.

“And so without further ado,” Murakami raised her bottle as high as she could. “Kampai!”

“Kampai!”

For the next few minutes, Azusa forgot all her worries and doubts as she helped herself out with the scrumptious feast before her.

Despite her body still developing, she had always been a picky eater. However, there were times when she knew it was fine to indulge in food more than the usual. This party was one of those times, and she allowed herself a couple more servings of all varieties of bread and sausages.

After a while, she decided to finally try the notorious juice. Shutting her eyes closed, she gulped a mouthful of the beverage and immediately felt a sharp, sweet apple flavor lingering on her taste buds.

"So, is it good?" Rum asked.

"Hmm? Oh, uh, it's good, I guess?" Azusa admitted. It wasn't bad, and she realized it didn't make her feel dizzy at all.

"Great!" The curly brunette beamed. "The night is still young, and there's plenty where that came from."

Azusa let out a nervous chuckle. “I’ll be sure to moderate myself.”

“Thish ish sho delishous!" Karina exclaimed while serving big chunks of food into her mouth. A couple more servings, and she squealed with delight.

"Your squeals bring so much joy into my heart," Cutlass mentioned in her usual monotone voice. "Bar Danzoko is the only place in the whole ship that serves the best-imported sausages."

"That is true," Murakami concurred. "Oh, and, you should have visited us here back when we still used our landship to smoke meat. Ah, those were the days."

“That reminds me, Murakami-senpai,” Azusa chimed in after downing another gulp of her juice. “Your Mark IV tank does look like a ship on land.”

"Heh, that's exactly why we agreed to join your club." Rum grinned. "Our tank looks like a ship, and driving it is just like sailing."

“And firing the landship’s guns is like firing the cannons of a ship.” Added Murakami.

"Not only that," Flint interjected. "We also joined your club for the sake of Momo-sama, who we all owe an enormous debt of gratitude."

This got a unanimous grunt of agreement from all members of the Shark Team.

"Yeah, Momo-senpai is amazing," Yuuki chimed into the conversation. "But, she's also very scary."

"She always finds the time to scold us whenever we make mistakes," Ayumi added.

"Karina finds Momo-senpai as the scariest member of the Student Council," The Rabbit Team's short driver said in between mouthfuls of food.

Murakami let out a loud hearty laugh. "Oh, you silly little rabbits! Momo-sama is not scary. She is the epitome of a Buddhist saint!"

“Uh, a Buddhist saint? Really?” Azusa raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Aye!” the burly sailor confirmed with conviction. “She’s a saint with a heart of gold.”

“Umu, her patience is infinite!” Rum nodded sagely.

“Someday, I shall dedicate a full album praising the exploits of Momo-sama!” Flint promised.

"If it wasn't for the great Momo-sama, we would all be expelled from this school," Cutlass recalled.

“Wow, this is the first time hearing this unexpected side of Momo-senpai,” Azusa admitted, though she still found it all hard to believe. “What exactly did Momo-senpai do to help you guys out?”

Silence.

Azusa blinked. “Eh?”

None of the members of the Shark Team made any attempt to answer her question. In fact, their demeanor seemed to change from an overall festive mood to a brooding demeanor.

The rabbit leader's eyes widened with a sudden realization about voicing out her question.

As if acting on her goody-two-shoes instincts, Azusa stood up and bowed her head in an apology.

“Um, I’m sorry!” She began. “I didn’t mean to pry on anyone’s privacy!”

“Relax, little rabbit,” Murakami chuckled as she gently patted her on the back. “The story of Momo-sama’s deeds are indeed long and inspiring. However, it is a story best reserved for another time.”

The other members of Shark Team nodded with agreement.

“Alright, some other time then,” Azusa said with a nervous smile.

She then sat back on her chair and felt her shoulders sagged with relief from narrowly avoiding a potential landmine.

“By the way, Murakami-senpai,” Ayumi interjected, shifting the topic to something else. “Where is Ogin-senpai? Will she be joining us later?”

Again, silence. The members of Shark Team exchanged looks with each other as if trying to communicate a secret that they only know.

Murakami shook her head apologetically. "I forgot to mention this earlier, but Captain Ogin will not be able to join us on this party."

"She is currently with the Student Council entertaining a foreign guest," added Cutlass. "She did tell us to send her regards to you, little rabbits."

Just then, Rum let out an audible grunt.

Azusa turned her attention toward the curly brunette, and she saw her body shiver from something.

"You said you're all scared of Momo-sama, right?" Rum asked. "Well, the one you should all be terrified of should actually be that manipulating chibi Anzu."

“Anzu?” Azusa tilted her head with confusion. “You mean President Kadotani?”

“Yep,” Rum confirmed. “I have seen my fair share of cutthroats in my life, but I’ve never seen someone as ruthless as the former president.”

Now it was the rest of the Rabbit Team to suddenly turn silent. Azusa exchanged looks with her teammates and saw the same dumbfounded expression as she had of being told the former president they knew had a hidden dark side.

“But that’s…” Azusa wanted to rebut the curly brunette’s depiction of the former president but couldn’t find the right words to utter.

“Now that you mentioned it,” Aya pressed a finger on the bridge of her glasses. “I had heard she actually forced Nishizumi-senpai to join our school’s Senshado club despite her not wanting to.”

“Oh yeah, I heard that too from Saori-senpai,” confirmed Yuuki. “Saori-senpai was visibly pissed when she recalled that story.”

“But Anzu-chan is a good person,” defended Karina. “She once saved Karina from drowning.”

“We are not saying that the former president is a bad person.” Flint raised her hands to her side. “True, she’s manipulative and ruthless, but that’s exactly why she was able to save our school from getting scrapped.”

“Oh, I see what you mean.” Azumi nodded in agreement. “I guess that’s about right. After all, President Kadotani, Momo-senpai, and Yuzu-senpai were already in the Student Council when they were still first years.”

“Not to mention,” Ayumi interjected. “She was the one who managed to make that match with Alice-chan and the University team a reality.”

"Saori-senpai said that the former President had to meet with some top officials from the Senshado Federation and the Ministry of Education to make the match happen," Yuuki added.

"And not only that, but," Aya also chimed in. "President Kadotani also made it possible for the other teams from other schools to join us in that elimination match. I couldn't think of any other person in our school that could have done what she did."

“Anzu-chan is cool,” Karina smiled. “Karina wants to be like her someday.”

“Yes, right.” Azusa concurred. She then made a mental note to remind herself to tell Karina not to be too casual with the former president.

Once again, the members of Shark Team didn’t respond. They exchanged confused looks with each other as if trying to see if anyone of them understood the conversation thus far.

“Ah!” Azusa clapped her hands as if figuring out the reason for the Shark Team’s silence. “You might not know this since you senpais are from the Naval Studies Department, but the former president made a deal with officials from the Senshado Federation and MEXT that if we could win against a University level team in Senshado, then they would not close our school down."

Again, no response.

A chill ran down Azusa's spine as she wondered if once more, she overstepped her bounds, but then she saw Cutlass shook her head.

“When we mentioned that the former president was ruthless, we were not talking about her role in setting up your match.” the barmaid sailor clarified.

"Eh?" now it was Azusa's turn to be dumbfounded. "Ok, now I'm confused."

“It’s true that the former president did all that you said back then,” Cutlass clarified. “But that was only half of her plan.”

“Only half of her plan?” Karina tilted her head quizzically.

The barmaid nodded then turned her attention back to Azusa. “Rabbit leader, do you know what happened to our school ship when the Ministry of Education closed it down?”

“Mmm,” Azusa clasped her hands in contemplation. “I heard it was to be decommissioned.”

Cutlass nodded. “And do you know what they do to decommissioned ships?”

Once more, Azusa's eyes widened with realization.

“Exactly,” the barmaid sailor completed her thought. “By decommissioning, they mean sending the ship to be scrapped.”

This revelation was greeted by a collective gasp from the Rabbit team.

“Wait, hold up,” Ayumi raised a hand. “I know our ship was supposed to retire, but I never thought they’d scrap the whole ship!”

"Don't retired ships meet in the middle of the ocean to form a humongous Robo mecha?" Karina asked, genuinely confused.

"That's just in anime, Karina-chan," Yuuki reminded her.

"If… If what you're saying is true," Azusa started, carefully choosing her words. "Even when we won the match, but the ship had already reached the scrapping yard, then we'd still lose our ship?"

Murakami slammed her hand on the table, which made the members of Rabbit jump with surprise.

“Now you little rabbits finally understand the former president’s plan.” the burly sailor grinned. “Your victory would have been for nothing if there’s no longer any ship to save.”

“Remember little rabbits,” Flint began. “We are from the Naval Studies Department. It is in our charge to sail and maintain this old bathtub so you General Studies landlubbers don’t have to.”

“And it also fell to us to bring this ship to its supposed resting place into a ship-breaking yard located in the Philippines.”

"This… This is the first time I've ever heard of this." Azusa shook her head with disbelief. "And there I was fighting in the match, thinking if we won against the University team, then we'd already saved our school."

“That manipulating chibi thought everything alright,” Rum added. “She tasked all of us from the Naval Studies Department to do everything we can, save from sinking the ship, to delay it from reaching Philippine waters.”

“Hey, I just made a quick google search and,” Aya showed her phone for everyone to see. “Take a look.”

Azusa leaned forward to get a better view of what was being displayed on Aya's phone. It appeared to be an article in English. There was a picture of a girl wearing a long black pirate coat standing next to another girl wearing a strange uniform, which made her look like a general.

“Ehhh?!” she squealed, unable to believe what she saw. “That’s… That’s Ogin senpai!”

“Wow! She’s so cool!” Karina declared. “She looks like a real pirate!”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Rum grinned. “The captain is such a badass. You should have seen her duke it out one on one with that Filipina general.”

“Not to mention, capturing a destroyer to fight off a cruiser.” Murakami chimed in.

“Destroyer? Cruiser?” Karina asked, genuinely curious. “Are they tanks?”

Flint laughed. “No, silly rabbit, they are actual ships made for war.”

“Oh, like Seatanks?” Karina suggests.

The silver-haired singer chuckled. "I have never heard anyone call a ship a seatank, but yeah, sure, why not?"

“Um, according to this article,” Azusa narrowed her eyes as she tried to translate English to Japanese in her head. “Na-Naval bat-battle… Fight-err no… Fought between a Japanese and a Philippine girls' school… Wait, we really fought a foreign school? How come I’ve never heard any of this before?”

"So as to give you guys all the limelight as the former president planned." Rum replied. "The official reason why the school isn't closed down is because your Senshado club won the match with that University."

"That and our naval battle caused a huge diplomatic scandal that the foreign ministry had to step in to suppress the news," Cutlass added.

“Um.”

Everyone stopped.

No one moved or made a sound for what seemed like an eternity as everyone made a double-take if they actually heard a faint voice only rarely heard.

Then, slowly, they turned their head at the Rabbit team's silent member one by one.

“Saki-chan? Did you say something?” Azusa asked.

The quiet gunner pointed at a decoration hanging on the tavern's opposite wall that looked like a seal or a coat of arms of some organization.

“Oh, I see you have sharp eyes, silent little rabbit,” Rum chuckled. “That is the emblem of Maharlika Girls Academy, the Filipino school that we battled out.”

Azusa had never seen such an intricate school crest before. It looked like it had the Philippine flag motif, a shield colored in red and blue, and two wicked-looking swords crossing a sun. There were some foreign letterings under the emblem that she'd never seen before.

"It was given to us as a token of friendship after a good battle at sea," Cutlass added.

“That’s just amazing!” The rabbit leader stared at the emblem with wonder. “But do we even have, um, ships to fight?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Yuuki interjected. “I’ve never heard of our school owning warships.”

"Our school is so old and under-budgeted that we even have to search the whole ship for old abandoned tanks." Aya lamented.

“We do now,” Murakami smiled as she stretched her arms up.

Understanding what the well-muscled sailor was about to do, Rum took out three juice bottles from her plastic bag and handed two of them to Cutlass and Flint.

“Honored little rabbits of Rabbit team,” Murakami started, straightening her posture on her seat. “Please make yourselves comfortable as I tell you all a legend… A legend of how a pirate saved our school from getting scrapped.”


End file.
